Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Several Members have raised the issue of people who are receiving dialysis or cancer treatment. In particular, people under 18 years of age who are on dialysis are down in vaccination category 15. While the Minister has outlined that he expects to revert within the next week, can we have an answer on this point because it has been raised consistently for the past four to five weeks? Will the Minister give us a straight answer in order that people will know what is planned over the next few weeks and months?

The second issue is having a clear plan set out for the next six weeks. Can the amount of vaccines coming into the country every week be set out publically, in particular those for the next six weeks? We would then have a clear view of what is coming in.

Finally, on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, although I acknowledge it has not been approved by the European Medicines Agency yet, I understand that more than 400,000 doses of that vaccine will be available in mid-April if approval is granted by the end of February. As this is a single-dose vaccine, we can get through a far greater number of people in a faster time. Can we increase that level of vaccine and can we have it delivered early, once it is approved by the European Medicines Agency?

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